


how these days grow long

by ladyknight27



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: AU, F/F, purgatory is now in america, sorry canada i don't know how your medical education system works
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-05 15:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12192399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyknight27/pseuds/ladyknight27
Summary: Waverly Earp is a surgical resident at Purgatory General Hospital; Nicole Haught is the cop who helps her out one night.  Fluff happens.A hospital / hospital-adjacent get-together AU that started one morning on my way to work because I was daydreaming about what roles the characters would play in a hospital setting.  Of course, Nicole is such an inherent cop that I couldn’t change her job, and Wynonna as a doctor is just scary, so I suppose it’s more of a no-curse AU.





	how these days grow long

It was October, it was getting chilly in Purgatory, and Officer Nicole Haught was incredibly grateful for her 24-oz thermos and the heated seats in her cruiser.  The town was dark and quiet; she secretly enjoyed taking night shifts once in a while, especially when nothing happened and she was able to enjoy the peace of being the only person awake.

She took a long sip of her coffee, then set the mug back down as her radio went off.

“Haught?  Someone at the hospital called in a stolen car.  Know where the staff parking lot is?”

“Who the hell is still at work at -” Nicole glanced at her watch - “2 am?”

“I don’t know.  Go find out.”

She sighed and took the next right, headed towards Purgatory General Hospital.  Upon winding her way up to the top floor of the staff parking garage, she spotted a woman pacing angrily back and forth beside the staff entrance.  Nicole cut across the nearly-empty lot and pulled the car over next to the entrance. 

“Ma’am?  They told me someone called about a stolen car.  I’m Officer Nicole - ”

The woman cut her off.  “Officer, finally.  I’ve been in the OR since 7am and I cannot spend one minute longer in this hospital.  I need you to report my car as stolen and contact hospital security about checking the security cameras up here.”

Nicole sternly reminded herself that she was observing the details of the scene for the sake of practice, not out of interest.  The woman wore faded green scrubs under an unzipped black fleece with a PGH General Surgery badge embroidered on one sleeve; she wore no rings – _jewelry_ , Nicole mentally corrected herself – and wisps of light brown hair had escaped her messy bun. 

Nicole pulled her notebook out of her pocket and reached out to gently halt the other woman’s pacing.  “Okay, um, Doctor?”

“Doctor, yeah.”  Although her tone was brisk, Nicole thought maybe she saw a flicker of appreciation in the other woman’s eyes.  “Waverly Earp.”

"Dr. Earp.  What kind of car do you have?”

“It’s a red 2004 Jeep Wrangler.”

Nicole turned reflexively as she heard a car start up behind her, and saw an SUV pull away to reveal the last car left in the lot, which was suspiciously Jeep-shaped.

“I always park it up here and it’s just gone.  It must have been stolen and honestly that’s the last thing I need after today.  I almost broke the duty hour restrictions yesterday, and tomorrow’s my first day off in two weeks, and…” she ranted, oblivious to Nicole’s gaze as she looked between Waverly and the remaining, very red, car.

Waverly trailed off as Nicole smirked and stepped into her personal space.  She tilted her head up to make eye contact, her mouth falling open a little, as Nicole gently ran her fingers across the back of her wrist until she grasped the car key still in her hand.  Still holding her eyes, Nicole pressed the panic button on Dr. Earp’s key and raised an eyebrow as the red Jeep Wrangler directly behind them went apeshit. 

“Oh,” Waverly muttered, totally derailed.  “Um.  I… I owe you one.”

“Let’s start with you getting some sleep,” Nicole replied, still grinning.  “And if you ever need help finding your car again, well, you know who to call.”  She tapped the brim of her hat and swung back into her patrol car.  _Gotta entertain myself somehow,_ she thought.  If that involved flirting with a pretty, sleep-deprived surgeon in the hospital parking lot at 2am, so be it.

 

~

 

After ten hours of sleep and a full pot of coffee, Dr. Waverly Earp, fourth-year general surgery resident at Purgatory General Hospital, was finally awake enough to fully experience the embarrassment of the previous night.

She hoped that it had been a dream, but she doubted that her subconscious was that cruel.  Calling the cops because she couldn’t find her own car right in front of her face?  _Ugh._   At least the officer who’d come to help was nice enough. 

One shower and a very expensive stop at the coffee shop later, Waverly backed through the door to the police station and leaned against the front desk.  “Hey Pete,” she chirped.

“Little Earp!” he replied, matching her cheery tone.  “What’s up?  Wynonna’s not working with us today.”

“I’m not looking for her, for once,” she said, glancing across the room for a flash of bright red hair.  “Do you guys have a new officer, Nicole something?  Worked last night?”

“Oh yeah, Haught?  Her desk is just over there,” he replied, jerking his thumb towards an empty desk. 

“Hot, seriously?” Waverly grumbled.  “Or are you just fucking with me?”

“What, don’t you think she is?” he replied, smiling a little too innocently.  “No, seriously, it’s Nicole Haught, H-A-U-G-H-T.  She should be here in a sec, she’s got late shifts all week.”

Just then, a warm voice behind her made her jump.  “Dr. Earp!  If you’re missing your car, I think I just saw it out front.”  Nicole – Officer Haught – was leaning against the station door, grinning at her. 

“Oh, hi!  I was just looking for you,” Waverly replied, feeling herself blush.  She followed Nicole over to her desk and leaned one hip against it.  The move shifted the hem of her crop top upwards, and she thought she caught Nicole’s eyes flicker towards it for a moment before they flicked back upwards.

_“Haught” is right,_ Waverly thought wryly, more observant now that she was rested and not freaking out about her car.  The standard Purgatory SD uniform was somehow very flattering on this new officer, especially with the top three buttons of her shirt undone.  Her short red hair was back in a ponytail, and Waverly thought she glimpsed an undercut when the other woman ran a hand up the back of her neck.  _Fuck._  

Nicole shook her head briefly, her soft smile shifting back to a more professional expression.  “What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to say thanks.  For last night,” Waverly explained, ignoring Pete snickering behind them.  “And I brought you apology coffee.  That was not my finest moment.”

Nicole raised one eyebrow at the coffee carrier, which held three large cups.  “I’m not sure I did enough to merit all of that, but I’m always happy to help?”

“I got a couple because I didn’t know what you’d want.  There’s black coffee, a four-shot latte, or, um, cocoa in case you don’t drink coffee.”  Waverly made a face, as if the idea of not drinking coffee was beyond her comprehension. 

Nicole laughed a little, carefully extracting the cup labeled “latte” from the carrier.  “Thank you for this,” she said. 

“You’re welcome!” Waverly grinned.  “So wait, you just got to work?  That’s awfully early for an overnight shift.  Or it would be for us, and we’re not exactly known for working reasonable hours.”

Nicole laughed.  “Nah, we stagger evening shifts.  I worked 8 to 6 yesterday, and I’m 4 to midnight today.” 

“Gotcha.  Well… do you work every evening?  Like, do you ever get a night off?  To have fun?”

“We only do late shifts one week a month,” Nicole replied, “although I don’t really do anything exciting on my own.  Haven’t met many people since I moved here.”

“Well, now you’ve met me!” Waverly said.  “And I’d be happy to show you around Purgatory, if you like.  I know all the good dinner spots…”  She paused as Pete hollered Nicole’s name from his desk by the door.  “Oh, right, you’re at work.”

Nicole smiled at her.  “Thanks for the coffee, Dr. Earp.” 

“You should really call me Waverly,” she said.  “Well… see you around?”

Nicole grinned back as Waverly waved goodbye, then let herself slouch a little once the other girl was safely outside.  Too bad the cute surgeon from last night appeared to be straight, based on attire at least.  Nicole always liked a girl who appreciated the importance of enough espresso to kill an elephant.  _Okay, so no more flirting, Haught,_ she thought to herself, taking a sip of her latte.  _Don’t be that girl._

 

~

 

A month passed, in which Nicole had successfully avoided temptation by neither requiring medical attention nor being sent to the hospital in a professional context.  Well… so maybe she’d seen Waverly at the coffee shop every so often, when their morning shifts seemed to coincide.  Nicole refused to admit that her new habit of buying coffee on her way to being 30 minutes early for work had anything to do with Waverly.  She was always delighted to see her, but word around town convinced Nicole that it was more to do with Waverly’s sunny disposition than anything special about Nicole. 

Unfortunately, while patrolling on her November week of night shifts, a call from Pete shattered her streak of hospital avoidance.  “Hey, Haught, call from the hospital staff lot.”

“Again?”

“I guess,” Pete replied.  Nicole could practically hear his posture over the phone: he’d be slouched in his chair, boots on the desk, shrugging at her.  “Different though.  Someone’s breaking into a car.”

“Yeah, okay, on my way,” she sighed and flicked on her lights to get there more quickly.  The lot was mostly empty again, aside from a slim figure in a hoodie jimmying the window of a blue-and-white truck. 

She pulled up next to Dark Hoodie and stepped out of the car, just in time to hear a woman mutter “…oh shit.” into the phone pressed to her ear. 

“What seems to be the tro… Dr. Earp?” Nicole began, startled as the woman turned to face her.

“Officer Haught,” Waverly said, smiling weakly.  “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”  She dropped the flirtatious tone when she saw the unimpressed look on Nicole’s face.  “Would you believe that this is totally innocuous?”

“Well, I know that’s not your car,” Nicole replied.

“It’s my sister’s.  Mine’s in the shop, so she let me take her truck.  But I locked the damn keys inside it, so she’s telling me how to pop the door… Oh!  Here, she’s still on the phone.”

Nicole took the offered iPhone with a raised eyebrow.  “This is Nicole Haught with the Purgatory Sheriff’s Department.  Who am I speaking with?”

“Holy shit, Haughtpants!” 

Nicole groaned.  “Wynonna?”  She tilted the phone away from her ear, staring at Waverly incredulously.  “Your sister is Wynonna Earp?”

“How many Earps do you think there are around here, Haught?” Wynonna’s voice interjected.  “Now can you please help my baby sister break into my truck so she can go home?  Knowing her, she’s probably been at work for like forty hours today, and she’s a real bitch when she’s tired.”

“Only sixteen!” Waverly protested, grabbing the phone back.  “And I’m only a bitch to you, Wynonna, because you deserve it.”  She grimaced at Nicole and held up a ‘one minute’ finger, then ducked around the far side of the truck. 

Suddenly abandoned and freezing cold in the November night, Nicole finally put the pieces together.  Wynonna was an ATF fire investigator she’d worked with a couple of times; she was kind of reckless, but clearly knew her stuff, and Nicole enjoyed her company when they weren’t two seconds away from getting blown up at a crime scene.  Dr. Earp must be the “genius kid sister” Wynonna liked to talk about.  Nicole barely stifled a groan.  Last week, Wynonna had gleefully trailed her through the station as she hauled some idiot named Champ into the drunk tank.  She’d refused to be shooed off, instead just gloating about her sister’s “shit-ticket ex.”  _Damn._ Well, she’d already known she didn’t have a chance. 

Meanwhile, Waverly was whispering into her phone, trying not to yell so Nicole wouldn’t hear.  “Is Nicole the new cop you keep telling me about?”

“Duh, baby girl.  How many new cops does this town need?”

“Shut up,” Waverly huffed. 

“Wait, is she the one who helped you find your car last month?  You never said that was THE hot cop!”

“Oh my God, Wynonna.  I was trying to forget that ever happened, thank you very much.”

“Except for the part where she practically mounted you to get at your car keys, I bet.” 

“I never said that!” Waverly hissed. 

“You turned redder than a fire hydrant when you said she pressed the panic button.  I can draw my own conclusions.  You know she’s the one who said my ass is top shelf?”

“WYNONNA.  Can we please have this discussion after I finish breaking into your truck?” 

“Fiiiiiine,” Wynonna drawled as Waverly stabbed the ‘end call’ button and stomped around the hood of the truck, where Nicole was deftly hooking the door lock with the bent coat hanger Waverly had already gotten through the window. 

The lock popped open, and Nicole stepped back.  “All set,” she said, her tone oddly more distant than it had been when she’d arrived. 

“Thanks,” Waverly replied automatically, a little thrown off as Nicole touched the brim of her hat and abruptly got back into her car.  _Don’t overthink it, Waves,_ she told herself.  _It’s late and cold out; it’s not personal._ Nonetheless, she found herself replaying the interaction in her head as she drove home, absently wondering if she’d missed something or said something wrong. 

 

~

 

A couple weeks later, on a quiet Thursday, Nicole decided she’d take her book to Doc’s, the bar down the street from the station.  She was comfortable in a corner booth and halfway through her book when Doc wandered over with another beer for her. 

“Officer,” he said, tipping his hat briefly.  Just then, raised voices made them both look up; even though Doc never asked her to help corral his patrons, her cop reflexes wouldn’t abandon her, even on her night off. 

“Give me your keys!”

“’m fiiiine, Waves.  Piss off.”

Doc just sighed, and Nicole glanced around, finally finding the source of the argument on the far side of the bar.  Nobody looked like they were going to throw a punch, and she would have been content to just keep an ear on it, but.  _Waverly.  And… is that Wynonna?_  

Waverly was still scolding.  “I am on TRAUMA SURGERY, Wynonna.  If you show up in my operating room because you’re drunk driving I will kill you!”

Nicole felt a wave of fondness… _totally professional gratitude…_ pass through her, and she thought maybe her face went a little wistful.  _Ugh.  Get a grip on yourself, Haught.  Don’t be creepy._ She controlled her expression before glancing over again, and realized that Doc was grinning behind the bar, and a tall black man standing near the sisters was giving her the side-eye.

Both sisters apparently noticed the man’s look; they turned in unison, and Nicole nearly laughed out loud at the victorious look on Waverly’s face compared to the pout on Wynonna’s when they saw her.

“Haught Stuff!” Wynonna yelled.  “Tell Waverly that, as an investigator of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, this whiskey is under my professional jurisdiction and must be thoroughly investigated.”

“Hi Wynonna,” Nicole drawled.  “I’m sure it is, even though you’re specifically a fire investigator, but I gotta mention that your jurisdiction doesn’t extend to riding your motorcycle afterwards.” 

Meanwhile, Waverly stuck her hand into Wynonna’s pocket and triumphantly stole her keys.  “Betrayal!” Wynonna howled, as Waverly backed out of reach and Nicole snickered.  “Dolls, c’mon, back me up.”

“No way, Earp,” the man with them laughed. 

Waverly was having a weird evening.  Drinking with Wynonna – or, more accurately, stealing sips of Wynonna’s whiskey whenever she wasn’t looking – was pretty much par for the course.  What was really freaking her out was the friend Wynonna had brought along: Dr. Xavier Dolls.  Waverly had not been prepared to spend an evening drinking with her boss, and she was not looking forward to work the next day.  Wynonna seemed to be hitting the bottle a little harder than usual, too.  She and Dolls were refusing to explain how they knew each other, which made Waverly suspect that they’d met in some sort of trauma-surgery-related incident that Wynonna had hidden from her.  Wynonna was flirting, Dolls was maybe occasionally flirting back – _holy shit –_ and Waverly sort of wanted the entire evening to stop happening. 

The cherry on top was Nicole Haught across the room, looking unfairly pretty in a thick blue sweater and apparently engrossed in _Monstrous Regiment,_ which, _really?  Could she be any more attractive?_ Waverly gave herself a mental shake.  She’d been running into Nicole almost every morning, which was kind of amazing.  If she tried to sneak away and go talk to her, Wynonna would never, ever let it drop.  At least Nicole would probably back her up if Wynonna put up a fight about driving tonight. 

Naturally, Wynonna tried to get Nicole on her side about riding her Harley home, which backfired spectacularly, and Waverly stuck the key in her bra.  It wasn’t enough to stop Wynonna, but maybe the added element of her sister’s apparent interest in Dolls would keep her off for once. 

With the key taken care of, Waverly remembered her manners.  “Nicole, this is, um.”  She sighed.  “Dr. Dolls?”

“Xavier,” he interjected, studying Nicole closely as he shook her hand.  She gave him a bland smile in response.

_This is the worst night._   “I can’t call him that, but you go ahead,” she muttered to Nicole.  “He’s actually my boss.  He’s a trauma surgeon at the hospital, and I’m working with him next month.” 

Nicole laughed.  “You go out drinking with your boss?” 

“It’s bizarre,” Waverly admitted.  “Wynonna brought him, but I have no idea how they know each other.”  She found herself leaning into Nicole’s side a bit, which, _whoops_.  As she guiltily straightened up, she caught Dolls eyeing her quizzically again. 

“I’m flattered, but I don’t think I’m your type,” Nicole replied drily. 

“Not for me, Haught Ass.  For my sister,” she laughed, scooting out of Waverly’s reach.  “If you two assholes are going to gang up on me, you might as well be able to coordinate.” 

Waverly resigned herself to her fate and drank the rest of Wynonna’s whiskey in revenge as Nicole obeyed.  Wynonna was grinning as she tapped at Waverly’s phone; Nicole’s beeped, and Waverly winced as Nicole grimaced at the screen, doubtless becoming the latest victim of her sister’s unholy fondness for dirty emojis. 

Wynonna still hadn’t relinquished Waverly’s phone when Doc reappeared behind the bar.  “Wynonna,” he said darkly, “I told you to stop texting me to order more drinks.” 

“It wasn’t me, it was Waverly!” Wynonna cackled, not protesting as Doc took Waverly’s phone out of her hands.  As he slid it back to her, Waverly saw Nicole slipping back to her table, and a few minutes later, the booth was empty. 

 

~

 

The next day, Nicole’s phone buzzed in the middle of her shift, and she was surprised to see Waverly’s name pop up on her screen.

_Hi Nicole.  I think I owe you an apology after Wynonna’s behavior last night.  How much espresso will it take to earn your forgiveness?_

_Hey!  I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t get out of the station soon.  Would you be free to meet up in a little while?_

_Love to ;)  How about the coffee shop across the street from the hospital?  I could meet you at 4:30_

_Sounds good.  :)_

Nicole arrived at the coffee shop in time to watch Waverly jogging across the street, ignoring the existence of the crosswalk in order to take the most direct path.  Her fleece was pulled tight across her scrubs, her loose hair tangled in the chilly breeze, and… _nope._   She cut her train of thought off, sternly reminding herself that she was just trying to be friends with the other girl. 

Nicole got a hold of herself just as Waverly burst through the door and almost collided with her, catching herself by wrapping a hand around Nicole’s bicep. 

“You made it!” Waverly exclaimed.  “Come on, I’m dying for caffeine.”

Nicole followed the tug on her arm obediently, even as she teased.  “ _I_ made it?  Shouldn’t I be saying that about you?”

“Hush,” Waverly laughed.  “Coffee, table, let me apologize for my horrifying sister.”

Nicole ordered first, opting for a mocha; she reflexively reached for her wallet, but Waverly smacked her hand before she could finish the motion.

“Nuh-uh.  My treat,” she said, smiling up into Nicole’s eyes for a moment before turning to grab a Kind bar and order a triple-shot almond milk latte.  

“Do you have more work after this?” Nicole asked as they settled at a table by the window.

“I’m technically done, but we’ve just changed rotations and it’s my intern’s first time on trauma,” Waverly explained.  “I told him I’d stick around for a while in case he needed anything.  Honestly, the caffeine is because I’ve been up since 4:30 and I don’t want to fall asleep on you.”  Her cheeks flushed slightly pink, but Nicole almost didn’t notice thanks to the mental image that bloomed in her mind. 

“So,” Nicole began, trying to distract herself.  “Do you go to Doc’s often?”

Waverly laughed.  “You know how in _Grey’s Anatomy_ there’s the doctors’ bar?  A couple of us thought the name was, you know, soooooo hilarious, so we turned it into our usual place.  Plus, Doc is a friend of my sister’s, so I know there’ll be fewer creepers.”

As they kept chatting, Nicole felt herself begin to relax.  She’d been surprisingly nervous at the prospect of actually spending time with Waverly, but the reality was going remarkably well, and it was a relief to not have to watch the clock because she was supposed to be getting to work.

“Wait, you’re 27?  I thought you were in your fourth year of residency.”

“Yep,” Waverly smirked.  She didn’t usually like bragging about herself, but watching Nicole try to figure her out was kind of endearing.

“I graduated from college when I was 22, so four years… plus another four… wait, how?”

“I skipped a year of high school and double-enrolled in online college classes during my senior year.”

“Wow,” Nicole said.  “So you’re brilliant.”

Waverly shrugged a shoulder, blushing slightly at the compliment.  “I mean, I guess Hopkins thought so, but…”

“Wait.  You went to medical school at Johns Hopkins?  Waverly, that’s amazing.  This isn’t going to come out right, but… how did you end up here?  I mean, I like Purgatory, but…” 

“…but a community hospital in the middle of nowhere, Montana, is not exactly typical?  Yeah, I know.”  Waverly rubbed the back of her neck.  “It’s… complicated.  My sister and I weren’t too close when we were growing up here.  When I was in college, we started reconnecting, and when she moved back to Purgatory, I kind of wanted to come back too.” 

She took a breath.  “The other thing is, I want to be able to do everything.  At more urban hospitals, everyone ends up super specialized, and I wanted to learn how to do as much surgery as I could, as well as I could.  I get to do a LOT here, probably more surgery than my classmates who went to big university programs.” 

She broke off, embarrassed, when she realized she’d been rambling.  Nicole was… not staring, exactly, but her eyes were soft and a little smile played around the corners of her mouth.  “That’s really impressive,” Nicole murmured.

“Thanks,” Waverly replied.  “So, wait, it kind of seems like you know a lot about medicine?”

Nicole nodded.  “My ex was an internal medicine resident while we were dating.” 

Just then, Waverly’s phone beeped, and she made a face at the screen.  “I’m really sorry,” she apologized, absently covering Nicole’s hand with her own.  “Jeremy, my intern, just texted – I’d better go back and see what’s going on.” 

“That’s fine,” Nicole said.  “We… if you want, we could meet up again?”

“I’d love to,” Waverly grinned.   “Text me, okay?”  She got up to leave, but Nicole stayed in her seat, absently finishing the last sip of her mocha.  She was still watching Waverly leave when the other girl turned at the door to give her another smile.

 

~

 

Almost without Nicole noticing, the coffee breaks – she was refusing to think the word ‘dates’ – became more frequent, and the crush she’d been trying to suppress was just getting worse.  They were on their third meeting of the week, and Nicole was honestly not sure how much longer she could tamp down her feelings.  All she wanted was to respect Waverly’s boundaries and let her call the shots, but she knew her affection was not subtle, and she had to believe that Waverly’s continued inaction wasn’t going to change.

“…so it was like 6 pm, I was covered in blood and only had one swipe for the scrub machine, and I ended up trying to change in the hallway so I could return them…”  Waverly broke off, realizing that Nicole was making a face.  “Sorry, is this gross?  I don’t really have a good gauge for acceptable conversation anymore.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Nicole reassured her, taking a sip of coffee.  “Just… I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

“Oh!”  Waverly paused.  “…which part?”

“Scrub machine?  Swipes?” 

“For surgery, we have to wear scrubs that get washed in the hospital.  You get them out of basically a vending machine with your ID, but my medical school only allowed us to get one set at a time.”

“Ok, got it.  So you couldn’t get a clean pair out?”

“Yep.  I figured it would only take me a minute to change, but then I got stuck when I tried to get my top over my head.” 

Nicole’s eyes widened.  _Don’t think about her topless, don’t picture her taking her shirt off in a hallway…_

Waverly continued, “And somehow that wasn’t enough to make it the worst day ever, because then my ex walked in.”

“No!” 

“YES.”  Waverly grinned, apparently getting the reaction she’d wanted.  “So I froze with my shirt, like, stuck around my face… and she laughed!”

Nicole felt her brain come to an abrupt, screeching halt.  “I, uh, uh.  She?”

Waverly’s jaw dropped a little.  “Yes, Nicole, my ex-girlfriend.” 

“Your ex… she… are you bi?”

"Yes.”  Waverly leaned back in the booth and crossed her arms defensively.  “Is that a problem?!” 

_Shit._   “No, I just.  Wynonna told me about Champ that one time I arrested him.  And when you’re not in scrubs, you look… I just…”

“…thought I was straight, huh.”  Waverly’s tone was dangerous.  “So just because I like crop tops and I’ve had a boyfriend, I have to be straight?  I’m so tired of that being the deciding factor.  You can’t be bi until you’ve had relationships with both a man and a woman, but then as soon as you’re IN a relationship, you’re too gay or too straight to be bi!”

“I’m sorry, Waverly.  I shouldn’t have assumed.  I know better, I just… I never wanted to do anything that would make you uncomfortable.  I’ve been trying not to push, you know?” 

Waverly looked at her blankly.  “You have?  Nicole, I’ve been trying to flirt with you for weeks.”

Nicole sputtered.  “You what?” 

“I mean, you’re a lesbian, not a unicorn, right?”

“I…” Suddenly, Nicole’s phone buzzed, nearly falling off the table, and she made a dive for it.  As she unlocked the screen and sat up, she visibly shifted into her “working cop” posture.  “Shit.  Waverly, I’m sorry, I’ve gotta go,” she stammered, and then Waverly was alone at their table.   

 

~

 

It had been a long day.  Nicole hadn’t texted her since the disastrous end to their coffee… meeting… the day before, and Waverly was tired of trying to parse out what was going on between the two of them.  She had woken up early despite trying to sleep in, and – _lucky me_ – she was on call overnight.  _Probably end up being so quiet that all I have to do is lie in a call room and overanalyze my feelings all night_ , she thought bitterly.

As she grumbled to herself, she finished checking on her patients – Mr. Brown was doing fine after she’d cleaned and sutured his lawnmower wound – and walked back past the operating rooms to let herself into the attending workroom. 

She opened the door to chaos.  Dr. Lucado had her finger in Dr. Dolls’ face, shouting “I already have a full patient load, and I’m not responsible for new admits today!”

Waverly quickly closed the door.  “What the fuck?” she muttered to Rosita, her fellow fourth-year, who was staring from just inside the door.  Rosita just shrugged in response.

Dolls groaned loudly.  “I know that, but I can’t admit her.  I’m not gonna take care of her, it’s unethical.” 

“You have an over-developed sense of ethics,” Lucado snapped.  “I don’t see what’s wrong about you taking this case.”

“I’m not doing surgery on someone I wanna da– “ Dolls finally noticed Waverly and snapped his mouth shut.  “Anyways, her sister is on my team this month.  She really can’t treat her.”  

“What the hell?” Waverly interjected.  “Is Wynonna getting admitted?”

“We just got a call from the emergency department,” Lucado said, rolling her eyes.  “Third-degree burn.  She got in some sort of work accident.” 

Waverly rubbed a hand over her face, mumbling “Jesus Christ, not again.”  She crossed to the line of computers along the wall, leaning over the back of a chair to log in and check the patient list.  “Dr. Lucado, I will do literally anything you want if you’ll just take her.  She can’t annoy you while she’s having surgery, and Jeremy and Rosita can handle her when she’s on the ward.”

“Fine,” Lucado said tightly.  “Rosita, call the ED back and tell them to admit her to me.” 

Waverly heard her obediently dialing as Dolls came over.  “Sorry about that, Earp,” he muttered. 

“Not the first time this has happened with Dr. Lucado,” Waverly grumbled.  “Anyways.  I ordered tomorrow’s lab work for Brown, and Pyne’s hemoglobin is stable.  Anything else I can do?”

“You’re on call tonight, right?”  Waverly nodded, and Dolls continued, “Okay.  Go take a couple of hours, get some food, see your sister.  I’ll make sure things get sorted so you won’t be responsible for Wynonna this evening.” 

“Thank you,” Waverly replied, refreshing the list one more time and finally seeing Wynonna’s name and room number pop up.  “I have my pager and phone, and I’ll come back for sign-out.” 

 

~

 

Waverly stormed into her sister’s hospital room and found Wynonna hunched on the bed as someone in full police uniform, plus hat, did up the ties of her hospital gown.  A swath of white gauze covered her right forearm just below the elbow.

Waverly just stood there, arms crossed and foot tapping, until Wynonna glanced up, froze, and blurted “Oh, shit.”  Behind her, Nicole jolted upright, self-consciously tugging the brim of her hat down further. 

“‘Oh, shit’ is right,” Waverly said.  “How about a frickin’ explanation, huh?”

“We got a call about a meth lab…” “I only got a little bit blown up…”

Waverly’s eyes bugged out.  “Blown up?!” 

“I just have a little burn.  It doesn’t even hurt!”  Behind her head, Nicole grimaced and held her hands three inches apart as she backed herself into the armchair in the corner.

"That’s not actually a good thing,” Waverly snapped.

“Waves, come on, I’m fine,” Wynonna whined.  “Can’t you just take me home and patch me up there?”

“Wynonna, I am NOT going to turn our home into a back-alley burn ward.  You are going to have surgery, you are going to receive appropriate wound care, and it is going to be done by someone who is not related to or in love with you.”  

Nicole cleared her throat and tugged at her hat again.  “Okay, so, everyone’s okay?  I should…” she trailed off as Waverly glared and stalked towards her. 

“What you should do is sit your ass down, Nicole Haught.  If my sister got ‘a little bit blown up’ clearing a meth lab, and you brought her here, I think you got blown up too.”  Waverly leaned into Nicole’s personal space and deliberately pulled her hat off, revealing an inch-long laceration on her forehead. 

“I’m fine, Waverly,” Nicole said gently, reaching for her before catching herself and dropping her hand.  Neither of them noticed Wynonna’s slightly-manic grin as she watched her furious sister reducing her badass cop friend to a puddle of rainbow goo. 

“You are NOT fine, Nicole,” she snapped.  “How did you get past the ED, anyways?”

“Um…” Nicole looked sheepish.  “I kept my hat on the whole time, and nobody noticed it?” 

Waverly pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Oh my God.  Okay.  I’m screening you for a concussion and then I’m taking a closer look at that.  Did you lose consciousness?” 

“No?” Nicole replied.

“Do you have a headache?  Nausea?  Dizziness?  Fuzzy vision?”  With every “no” from Nicole, some of the tension receded from Waverly’s shoulders.  “Okay.  Changes in your mood, thinking, concentration?”  Another shake of the head.  “Are you telling me the truth?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Nicole said softly. 

Waverly’s frown slipped a little before she caught herself.  “Good.  Will you tell me if any of that changes?  Or if you have a hard time sleeping?”

“Of course.” 

Waverly dug through the pockets of her long white coat fruitlessly, then turned around to check the drawer of the nightstand.  Behind her back, Wynonna smirked at Nicole and cracked an invisible whip; Nicole flushed and flipped her off. 

Finally, Waverly gave up and sighed.  “Okay, come with me.  Wynonna, if you move one inch I’m having someone put one of those alarm bracelets the pediatricians use to keep people from stealing kids on you.  BEHAVE.”  She grabbed Nicole’s hand, pointed threateningly at her sister with the other, and dragged Nicole out of the room. 

Nicole followed, not protesting, as fatigue from the day’s events began to catch up with her.  Waverly’s hand was warm in hers and she wasn’t letting go, even as she punched in the code to unlock a door labeled “Residents’ Lounge.”  The room was empty and quiet, despite the rows of labeled lockers and snack-covered work table that attested to its purpose as shared space.  A few rays of sunlight from the windows on the far wall fell across a ratty green couch that had definitely seen better days. 

“Go sit,” Waverly said, releasing her hand, and Nicole gratefully sank backwards into the dip in the middle of the couch.  She tilted her head back into the cushion and watched Waverly shed her white coat and hang it on a hook, some of the tension leaving her shoulders as she took a deep breath.  She shamelessly rifled through the other coats lined up next to the door until, with a quiet “Hah!,” she fished out a couple of sealed packets and a small pair of scissors.  _She looks calmer,_ Nicole thought absently as she picked her way through the furniture and leaned into Nicole’s personal space.

Waverly tilted Nicole’s chin up with one hand but, apparently dissatisfied with the angle, put a knee on the couch next to Nicole’s hip to move closer.  She tore open an alcohol swab and gently began cleaning the cut.  Nicole thought this was usually supposed to hurt, but all she could feel was the puff of Waverly’s breath across her nose, the gentle fingertips turning her face.  She couldn’t think about anything beyond the focus in Waverly’s eyes, little wrinkle of concentration between Waverly’s brows. 

“Good,” she murmured, so quiet that Nicole could barely hear over her pounding heart.  “I was right – this doesn’t need stitches.  I didn’t think you’d want to go back through the emergency department.” 

“Whatever you think,” Nicole replied, equally softly. 

Waverly shifted back for a moment to open the other packet and trim its contents, dropping the remnants on the floor.  She settled forwards again, kneeling over Nicole and leaning in to smooth the adhesive strips across the cut.  She brushed her palm across Nicole’s forehead and over her hair, finally meeting her eyes.  Nicole felt more than heard her sigh. 

She reached up to carefully grasp Waverly’s forearm.  “Waverly.  Are _you_ okay?” 

The quiet moment shattered.  Suddenly, Waverly’s full weight was in her lap and her lips were warm against Nicole’s. 

They broke apart for a second as Nicole gasped, “Yeah?”  She couldn’t control the grin spreading across her face. 

“Yeah,” Waverly replied, kissing her again.  “I’ve wanted this since you set off the panic alarm on my car.”

Waverly felt Nicole’s hands settle on her hips, tugging her down to lie on the couch.  She pulled Nicole on top of her and wrapped one leg around her waist, laughing as Nicole ran her hand up her hip and traced the holes marking the shitty pair of scrubs that somehow kept ending up in the scrub machine.  She was lost in the weight of Nicole’s body above hers and the smooth line of her clavicle under her fingertips, as if the rest of the hospital outside the lounge had ceased to exist.  She slid one hand up Nicole’s neck into her hair and traced the other down her back, pressing her fingertips gently against her spine. 

“Waves,” Nicole panted against her lips.  “Are you doing a physical exam on me?”

Waverly grinned up at her, running both hands firmly over Nicole’s ribs.  “I’ve gotta make sure you’re still in one piece.” 

“What’ll you do if you find anything, kiss it better?” Nicole challenged her, eyes dark, leaning down again to nip at her bottom lip.  Waverly gasped and pulled her closer, trauma exam forgotten. 

Distantly, she heard the door lock beep. 

“Aw, god damn it, Earp!” Jeremy whined from the door.  They startled apart, and Waverly saw him slap a hand over his eyes.  “Please don’t do… that… where I keep my snacks?  We’re not on Grey’s Anatomy.” 

Having thoroughly destroyed the moment, Jeremy stomped back out, and the roiling mix of Waverly’s emotions suddenly deflated.  She sat up against the arm of the couch, pulling her legs out from underneath Nicole and wrapping her arms around her knees. 

Nicole got the hint, scooting over a little and looking down as she began undoing and fixing her now-disheveled braid.  “I’m sorry Wynonna and I got blown up,” she said.  “Are you angry with me?”

Waverly hesitated long enough for Nicole to notice.  “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“So you are mad.” 

“I’m furious,” Waverly admitted.  “Both of you could have gotten so hurt.”

“Wynonna shoved me out of the way,” Nicole explained.  “She was wearing protective gloves and trying to dismantle a heating apparatus that was still running.  That was the only thing that exploded, but the whole house would have gone if she hadn’t gotten it disconnected when it did.” 

Waverly grimaced.  “Not helping.”  She sniffled quietly, trying to wipe her eyes on her sleeve without Nicole seeing.  “Sorry.  I’m just.  Overwhelmed?”  She covered her eyes with one hand and took a deep, shuddering breath, then another. 

When she let her hand fall, her face was calm.  “Okay.  I have fifteen minutes before I need to go back to work.  I’m going to go see Wynonna, get a snack, and we are going to revisit this.  Soon.  When I’m not working.”  

“Okay,” Nicole agreed, cautiously kissing her temple before easing off the couch.  “Think your sister will want some company?  I can stay.”

“God, yeah,” Waverly laughed quietly.  “She hates hospitals.  Someone’s got to make sure she doesn’t just get up and walk out.” 

“I’ll stay.” 

The rest of Waverly’s night shift had been as uneventful as she’d predicted, and at 3 am she’d left Jeremy in charge and gone to check on Wynonna.  Her sister was asleep, with Nicole curled up in the armchair nearby.  In the faint light from the hall, Nicole’s eyes had flickered open.  Waverly hadn’t lingered in the room, but the sight of Nicole, soft from sleep and melting into a smile as she saw Waverly, stayed with her as she fell asleep.

 

~

 

Day 2 of Wynonna’s hospitalization was uneventful, and she was scheduled for a skin graft the following day.  Afterwards, once Wynonna had been taken from recovery back to her hospital room, Waverly managed to find a couple of minutes to go visit. 

“Heeeeeeyyyyyyyy, Derp!” Wynonna cackled, apparently much happier than she had been previously.

“That’s a new one,” Waverly commented acidly, eyeballing the IV pole next to her sister’s bed.  “Enjoying the Dilaudid?”

“Sooooooo much.  It’s because you’re Doctor Earp.  Dee arr Earp.  Derp!”  Wynonna’s explanation sent her off into another fit of giggles as Waverly sat down on her bed.  “Hey, Derp.”

“Please stop calling me that,” Waverly interrupted, with minimal success.

“Yeah yeah.  What’s – ” a sharp poke – “on your neck?”

“Ow.  Huh?  Nothing!” Waverly automatically smacked her hand over the mark at the base of her neck.  _Damn V-neck scrubs_.  “I… walked into an IV pole.”

“Baby girl, the little pointy things on IV poles are like… two feet over your head.”

Waverly rolled her eyes but didn’t bother explaining further.  It was too soon to share what was happening between her and Nicole, even though she knew her sister would be delighted.  Searching for a change of topic, she noticed an extra pillow and blanket in the armchair. 

“Did Nicole sleep here last night?” she asked, confused.  Earlier, she’d come by the room for a minute to check Nicole’s steri-strips and kiss her breathless, but she thought Nicole had just arrived from home to keep Wynonna company.

“Nah, Dolls…” she began, and Waverly groaned.  Everything clicked into place: Dolls asking them to call his cell phone instead of the attendings’ workroom, his grumpier demeanor over the past two days.   _I know Purgatory is a small town, but Jesus._ Her boss dating her sister, her sister developing a friendship with Nicole… of course everything was happening all at once.

 

~

 

Nicole was settling into a new routine: work, text Waverly, hang out at the hospital in her downtime to keep Wynonna company.  Although they had just been work buddies before, their friendship was growing quickly, maybe in part because Wynonna was a captive audience.  It didn’t hurt that Nicole had an ulterior motive for wanting to stay on her good side.  Sometimes Waverly would stop by if she had a minute between patients, which was really testing Nicole’s ability to control the heart eyes she knew she was prone to.

On Wynonna’s fifth day in the hospital, Nicole finished her shift and texted Waverly on her way home to change.  _I’m gonna go hang out with your sister.  I’ll probably get there around 5?_

Later that evening, Waverly headed down the hall, automatically hitting the hand sanitizer on her way as she walked out of her workroom.  When she peered into her sister’s room, the bed was empty, but Nicole was there, as promised, curled up in the armchair. 

She looked up at the squeak of Waverly’s sneakers on the floor, and her face melted into a grin.  “Hey, Waves.” 

“Hey,” Waverly replied, swinging the door shut behind her.  “Where’s Wynonna?”

“She got stir-crazy, went for a walk.  I spent half the day literally running around, so I didn’t go with her.  Are you done for the day?”

“Yeah,” Waverly said, gently pulling her out of the chair and into a hug.  “How’s your head?”

“Never better,” Nicole breathed, settling her hands on Waverly’s hips and tugging her closer.  Waverly traced one hand over the skin near Nicole’s cut, then, satisfied that the mostly-healed wound still looked okay, ran her fingertips down her cheek to brush over Nicole’s lower lip. 

Nicole licked her lips, eyes dropping to Waverly’s mouth, then immediately grimaced and recoiled. 

“You taste… different.” 

“What?” Waverly murmured, half-lost in her eyes. 

“Your skin.  Tastes awful.”  Nicole laughed a little, breaking the moment but not backing away from their embrace. 

“Oh, shit, yeah, the hand sanitizer!  Sorry.  It’s a habit, but it tastes gross.”

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and they both jumped.  “Hey, Haught Stuff, wanna… HOLY SHIT.” 

“Shit!” Nicole hissed, pulling away and resisting the urge to put her hands up.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, face transforming into the most terrifying grin Nicole had ever seen.  “Have you two been playing doctor?”

Just then, Jeremy tapped on the door and wandered in, hands full of gauze and tape.  “Time to change your dressing,” he started. 

“Jeremy!” Wynonna exclaimed, whirling on him.  “Did you know my sister and Haught here are together now?” She accompanied the question with an eyebrow waggle that made Nicole’s blood run cold.

“Uh, yeah,” Jeremy replied distractedly.  “…Oh.  Was that a secret?”

Mortified, Waverly buried her face in Nicole’s shoulder, smiling when she felt Nicole automatically start petting her hair. 

“I’m okay with this, but only because I get to be Wynonna Haught now,” Wynonna declared.

“That’s… really not how it works,” Nicole replied.

“But I’m a fire investigator and I could be named WYNONNA HAUGHT.  It would be SO GOOD.” 

"Ooookay," Waverly said, straightening up and sliding her hand down Nicole's arm to lace their fingers together.  "I need coffee and to not look at my sister right now."  She dragged Nicole out of the room, ignoring the twin shouts behind them.

"Don't run into any IV poles, sis!" "NOT IN OUR WORKROOM!" 

~

**Author's Note:**

> I love Wynonna Earp a lot, but one of the few things that can really distract me from an episode is whatever medical stuff is going on. I do a lot of screaming. If anyone managed to do effective CPR and not just sexual-tension-mouth-to-mouth, I’d be (slightly) happier. 
> 
> They’re aged up in this a bit (or at least Waves is) because I will not write a 21-year-old fourth-year resident, no matter how smart she is.
> 
> This is now set in Montana even though I know Purgatory is canonically in Canada, because I don’t know enough about the day-to-day of Canadian medical life. However, to make up for being pedantic about hospital stuff, I am shamelessly making things up about police work and meth labs. The ATF stuff is based on reality in that "fire investigator" is a real position. 
> 
> ED = Emergency Department. If you call it the ER, the emergency medicine physicians will yell at you b/c "it's BIGGER THAN A ROOM, IT'S A DEPARTMENT." This has happened to me.
> 
> Waverly probably should have irrigated Nicole’s teeny little laceration, but… irrigating is just not sexy.
> 
> I don’t know how many sets of scrubs Johns Hopkins gives their med students, because I don’t actually go there. Yes, I am bitter about my school’s policy, thank you for asking. 
> 
> Thank you to Voroindo, my jerk beta who insisted that I needed to explain most of the hospital stuff better and who took FOREVER to watch the end of the season.


End file.
